Voters decided it was time for the El Paso Independent School District to turn over a new leaf as they voted the incumbents out of office, a new representative in, and sent two other races to a runoff.

In District 5, incumbent Joel Barrios was ousted with Chuck Taylor and James Lamonica headed to a runoff.

In District 1, Omar Villa and Bob Geske head to a runoff, ousting incumbent Rocio Benedicto.

The runoff election is set for June 15.

"It's clear that the voting public wanted to see new leadership in EPISD," Villa said in response to the runoff between him and Geske.
Benedicto did not return calls for comment.

Borrego said he called Byrd and congratulated her for her win and thanked all his supporters.

"I wish EPISD the best and hopefully they can move out of this mess and become the best school district in the city," Borrego said.

"It's time for me to step down. The voters spoke and the message is loud and clear and I respect that."
Barrios expressed similar sentiments and said he, too, respected the vote of the people.

"They chose and I will definitely support their decision," Barrios said. "I still full heartedly believe in the voice of the people and that is their voice so I will support that.

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After winning by 54 percent of the vote, Byrd said she wants to begin working with the board of managers to restore trust in the district and will ask the remaining trustees - Isela Castañon-Williams, Patricia Hughes and David Dodge - to step down before their election in November 2015.

"One of the things holding us back in regaining local control is that they are still in those seats," Byrd said. "They are preventing us from moving forward.

In the next couple of months we have to show the community and TEA (Texas Education Agency) that we have a plan and that we are ready to work and we have the right to regain control."

Taylor, who had 48 percent of the vote, said he was delighted with the results.

Now the task that newly elected EPISD trustees will have is restoring trust and stability after a cheating scandal plagued the district.

In the months leading up to the election the district's cheating scandal became the center of forums as candidates and community members questioned incumbents Borrego, Benedicto and Barrios about their reactions to the cheating scandal.

The cheating scheme, which was devised by former Superintendent Lorenzo García, manipulated student grade levels and forced students out of school in an attempt to cheat federal accountability measures. García is now serving a

3 -year sentence in federal prison for the scheme and for steering a $450,000 no-bid contract to his mistress.

Byrd, Lamonica, Villa and Taylor have said that the board's lack of action and willingness to cede much of its power to García led to the district becoming entangled in the scandal.

Winners of this election may not have decision-making powers for up to two years. As a result of the cheating scandal, Texas Education

Commissioner Michael Williams appointed a board of managers to oversee the district.

The board of managers include former state Rep. Dee Margo; Ed Archuleta, retired chief executive officer of El Paso Water Utilities; Carmen
Arrieta-Candelaria, the city of El Paso's chief financial officer; Blanca Enriquez, the head of Region 19 Head Start program; and Judy Castleberry, a

San Antonio-area educator who was appointed to be the TEA's monitor over the district in August and was then elevated to conservator in December.

On April 30, the U.S. Department of Justice approved Williams' decision and the elected school board was stripped of its powers.

Byrd and Taylor said they are eager to work with the board of managers.

Geske, who had previously said he was disappointed with the DOJ's, said Saturday that he would do everything he could do to show that the board of managers was no longer needed.

"If elected, I'm going to start the process of getting the board of managers removed and prove to them that we can do a good job and move on with the district instead of waiting around to see what they do," Geske said.

Alex Hinojosa may be reached at ahinojosa@elpasotimes.com; 546-6137. Follow her on Twitter @AlxHinojosa